Frank, I understand that you have made many trips to Oz to experience monitors in the wild, but have you ever visited New Guinea or any of its adjacent islands and observed members of the Varanus prasinus group in the wild? (or perhaps even the Iron Range/McIlwraith Range in N. Queensland to see V. keithhornei?).

The reason why I ask, is that here you are, arguing that it is 'normal' for V. prasinus to dig and burrow and build chambers, based on your observations of them in captivity (in Tuscon, Arizona), and are suggesting that this burrowing behavior is a natural behavior which wild conspecifics participate in regularly.

Have you ever questioned whether or not your V. prasinus were exhibiting such behaviors due to the conditions you were providing them with/what they were exposed to? Have you ever suspected that the conditions you were offering were incorrect, and that the behaviors you observed were nothing more than attempts to escape inadequate conditions?? Perhaps they were trying to get away from the heat and lack of humidity that your place of residence is almost always exposed to? I would tend to think that maintaining adequate temperatures and humidity levels for such a humidity-loving species in your situation/area- Tuscon, Arizona (the desert) would be quite demanding and challenging.

I recall you mentioning to me(and other members of the online varanid community) that you used to house your V. prasinus and V. beccarii outdoors(several other individuals who have visited you years ago have seen this as well). Now to me, the climate of Arizona does not seem too favorable for such a species adapted for life in lowland tropical rainforests, but what do I know? Perhaps the desert climate of Tuscon Arizona is consistent with the climate of New Guinea's lowland tropical rainforests?

In such a situation (tree monitors in desert-like conditions), I could, in fact I would expect to see tree monitors digging down to escape both the heat and lack of humidity on the surface. However this would be an attempt to escape hostile conditions, not a regular aspect of their daily lives.

Out of curiosity, since we are talking about your personal experiences with tree monitors, what ever happened with your V. prasinus, and why do you think you failed with this species??

With such claims, you are stating that those individuals who have never observed burrowing behavior/chamber-building behavior in their V. prasinus are keeping their animals improperly. Of the many private individuals and zoological institutions which have in fact bred V. prasinus complex members (successfully hatched out ), there has not been a single documented observation of such a burrowing behavior as you describe, nor has there ever been any such behaviors reported in any field observations of these monitors in the wild.

So I suppose what you are getting at in your previous post, is that, based on your experiences with V. prasinus(which in reality is a failure to hatch out this species, as well as a lack of wild observation of this complex), everybody else(those who have observed them in the wild, and those who have indeed bred them in captivity) is wrong..

Now that does not make much sense to me at all.. You are denouncing those who have succeeded, based on your failures..?????
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